DreamEXE
by Aria6
Summary: A new Super Navi... what trouble can she get into? Read and review!
1. Default Chapter

A dark Navi growled to himself, hiding in the darkness. A spasm of pain traveled through his lean frame, leaving him shaking.

_Why did I do this?_ Cursing quietly, he lowered himself gingerly to the floor, letting himself slump down. It was a posture that would have astonished any of his underlings. To them, he was death incarnate.

It was a stupid question, though. He knew exactly why he was doing this… to ensure the existence of his kind. He was determined that, if he was deleted, he would not be the last Super Navi.

Whether it was wise was another question entirely, but it was far too late to consider that. Forte gritted his teeth as another spasm shook him, resting his head in his hands. He hadn't realized it would be this painful.

Spawning his program had been easy enough. It had taken a great deal of energy, siphoned out of the surroundings and stolen from deleted viruses. Not that anyone would notice… and if they did, he could delete them easily enough. 

But now, the new pattern was breaking free, pulling away from him. That was what caused the pain. Forte grit his teeth, and concentrated, focusing all of his attention to the matrix of the new program. It was time to customize it, force it to conform to what HE wanted. And it was resisting; he could feel that. Still, it would only take a little more time and-  
  
"Hey!"  
  
The shout shattered his concentration like a piece of fragile crystal. Forte's head jerked upwards, and he stared at the intruding Navis. Netbattlers, he noted absently… and started to shake with rage.  
  
"You…" That was the only word the second Netbattler got out, before his voice turned into a scream. Primal power washed over both of them, searing their data into nothingless in a split second. But it was long enough for them to feel the pain.  
  
_Damn them damn them DAMN THEM!_ Lips pulled away from teeth, as Forte raged silently. It was too late, his chance was gone. As the final pain of seperation seized him, he spared a brief moment to wish he had deleted them more slowly.  
  
Then his world was nothing but pain.

hr  
  
When Forte finally opened his eyes again, things had changed.

It was a change within him, an immediately obvious one. He felt… hollowed out, empty and drained. Also slightly bereft. Forte frowned slightly at that, as he sat up. He hadn't expected he would miss the teasing awareness of the new program, hiding within himself.

Forte stood, floating slowly over to that new program, regarding it with empty red eyes.  
  
The new program was lying on his back, sleeping peacefully. The face was almost a perfect copy of his own, but somehow… finer. More delicate. Forte frowned, as he examined the features. Perhaps they were… younger? That wasn't quite right. He seemed almost-  
  
He?  
  
Forte glanced down sharply as the thought occurred to him, and he saw what the poncho had momentarily concealed. Shapely breasts that rose and fell with the deep, slow breathes the new Navi took. He glanced back up at the face, and took a deep breath, as he understood the difference. Feminized. These were his features, refined to look female. And it was quite a beautiful effect. Forte felt faintly uneasy about that, and shook his head. This was an unexpected development, certainly nothing he wanted… but not necessarily damning. If this was the worst effect of the break in his concentration, the new Navi would be adequate.  
  
There was a soft sigh as the new Navi stirred, and slowly opened her red eyes. She stared up at him, then slowly sat up, looking around curiously. To her, everything was new. She finally turned her gaze back to the dark Navi floating before her.  
  
"Hello?" She said softly, her voice soft and low, for a female. She stood, and slowly floated off her feet… Forte blinked, then smiled slightly to himself as he noticed another difference. She was tiny. Barely five feet high, she just barely reached the middle of his chest. "Who are you?"  
  
That startled him, although Forte gave no obvious sign beside a narrowing of the eyes. She should have had his memories… she should know everything. Apparently, the changes had been more than merely cosmetic. Still…  
  
"I am Forte.EXE. You are my creation." He said, matter of factly, as she gazed at him curiously.  
  
"Oh." There was a momentary pause for deep thought, then the new Navi spoke up again. "What's my name?"  
  
Forte blinked, then stared at her. He'd never considered that. She stared back, her softer, feminized face confused and wondering. She knew nothing, none of the things he'd wanted to give her. No preconceptions, nothing to guide her but her own experiences. Forte gazed at her, and tried to think of a name. Right now, she seemed dazed and uncertain, almost as if she was in a…  
  
"Dream. You are Dream.EXE." He stated, on a sudden impulse. The new Navi nodded slowly, her wide red eyes fixed on his face.  
  
"Dream." She repeated, testing the name. "That's nice. I think I like it." Then she hesitated. "What… should I do now?"  
  
"Follow me." And Forte turned away, floating deeper into the Undernet. The new Navi floated silently behind him, gazing around wonderingly at the world she was now a part of…


	2. Ah, the freedom

"Dream! Are you paying attention?" Forte suddenly snapped at her. She had been looking into his face, her big red eyes fixed on his attentively. but he'd learned that didn't necessarily mean anyone was home. Dream had a knack for appearing attentive, when her thoughts were actually a million miles away.  
  
She confirmed it now, by starting slightly. "Oh, of course papa. What else would I be paying attention to?" She said disingenuously, widening her eyes even more, to look sweetly innocent. It was cute, adorable. and utterly manipulative. Forte's eyes narrowed as he looked at her.  
  
"Repeat what I said." He demanded. Dream sighed.  
  
"You said that humans are our enemies. That they use and discard Navi's. That we are super Navis, and far superior to any of them." Dream rattled off his reasoning, sounding faintly martyred. She didn't notice the speculative look Forte was giving her.  
  
He had detected a note he'd never noticed before. Either Dream wasn't guarding herself well enough, or it was new. A note of resignation, as if she was humoring him. repeating something she didn't believe in.  
  
Briefly, he considered deleting her and trying again. But he'd had her for nearly a month, and she had rather grown on him. She was sweet, tolerant, and cute as a button. Unfortunately, she knew it, and milked it for all it was worth. That didn't endear her to Forte, but she was also capable of deleting Navi's like a human swatting bugs. Forte had been cautiously impressed, the first time she'd faced down a group of Netbattlers. She had deleted them in under a minute, with no sign of remorse.  
  
Forte was convinced she had depths, and what it took to be his true partner. but she'd never experienced the truth about humans. She'd never been betrayed by them, and he sensed that despite her outward acceptance, she didn't really believe him when he told her about them. Dream just didn't have the experience.  
  
And there was only one way to get it.  
  
"Enough." Forte interrupted her stream of words, and Dream blinked slowly at him. "I think it's time you left here."  
  
"Left?" Dream stared at him blankly, confused by this concept. She'd hardly ever been allowed out of the WWW area, her little home. Forte nodded.  
  
"You need to find things out for yourself, I think." Forte reached down, catching her chin in one hand. "You need experience. and you need to find out the truth about humans on your own." Dream blinked again. then smiled.  
  
"Oh, papa!" She suddenly floated close, and surprised Forte by grabbing him. And surprised him even more by fastening her lips over his, in a passionate kiss.  
  
What the.? Forte reached up to pull her away. then shuddered as a sudden pulse of energy ran through him. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before, and he had a curious feeling, a feeling of bonding. An energy connecting them, as if Dream's program was trying to become part of his own.  
  
It ended all too soon, as Dream pulled away with a gamin grin. "Goodbye, papa!" And then she was gone.  
  
hr  
  
Freedom was a strange thing.  
  
At first Dream.EXE didn't adjust well. or perhaps she adjusted too well. After so closely guarded a childhood, a bit of hyper overreaction might be expected.  
  
She marveled at the digital net, as she saw flashing by. and released a torrent of viruses on one section, because she thought it was ugly and needed some improvements. The guardian programs of that particular company (which, frankly, deserved it for completely unrelated reasons involving pollution violations) leaped into the fray, and soon a fierce battle was on to preserve the company data.  
  
But she didn't wait around to see the outcome of that. Instead, she flowed onwards, pausing to play in a data stream. The raw data billowed upwards in golden clouds, as she splashed in it, laughing. Any normal program would have been deleted. and Dream decided to vacate when she noticed the crowd her antics were attracting.  
  
Her next target was Netbattler HQ itself. She blasted through every defense in a matter of seconds, making sirens blare. and caused grass and flowers to grow over everything, before hiding herself away to watch confused Netbattlers clear it away with fire weapons. She hadn't added any viruses to trouble them, so they were mystified. A few of the more intelligent and opportunistic Netbattlers gathered the multi-colored, beautiful flowers, and Dream laughed. There would be some female Navi's with pretty gifts tonight.  
  
Next, she managed to completely mortify the nighttime news by hacking into their system and misspelling every word just before it went on air. Dream had a giggle fit over that.  
  
But eventually, she settled down, and found a nice place to curl up and rest. She felt pleasantly tired, from all the things she had done. Before long, she fell asleep.  
When she woke up, though, reality set in.  
  
Dream frowned, glancing around. She was alone. Not that that was anything different. Forte had often left her alone for long periods. but this time, she didn't have the option of finding anyone.  
  
She'd always had the WWW Navis to talk to. Some were pleasant company, some weren't, and she'd kicked a few butts in her time, but still, they were there. Now, she had no one. It was a trifle disconcerting.  
  
But only for a moment. Dream wasn't going to let that get her down, and floated up with a smile.  
  
"What should I do today?" She mused, thinking. "Hmm." The possibilities were endless. She could visit foreign nets. she could cause mischief.  
  
She could find some friends. And for that, she didn't need to go anywhere. Internet city was close by, and would do quite well. 


	3. Internet City

Dream gazed around Internet city, fascinated and slightly disturbed.

The fascination came from everything around her. There were many amusements for the Navis who came here, things created by the Navis, for the Navis. Also things created by humans, but those were usually samples of products, digitalized so other humans could see what they would do in real life. It was still fun for the Navis, who could kick a ball around, or ride a digital scooter.

The silver buildings arched gracefully overhead, reaching up towards a sky that was disconcertingly blue, with fluffy white things drifting across it. It was a vast change from the Undernet's darkness, but Dream adjusted quickly, watching the fluffy white things form shapes with a delighted smile.

But she didn't know anyone. That was the disturbing thing about being in Internet City. Not that she was afraid… she feared nothing… but it made her uneasy. In the Undernet, knowing people was of critical importance.

That was a lesson Forte had never learned, because he didn't have to. His power made it unnecessary. But Dream had made herself more approachable, and had even made some tentative friends, the brief times Forte had allowed her to visit the dark metropolis, Maligoenia. According to Forte, the name was loosely derived from Latin, and meant "Wicked City." On her stints there, she had made one friend in particular, an old Navi who had been willing to explain how things in the Wicked City worked.

The most critical lesson was to know whom you were dealing with. It was a truism of the Undernet that you should trust no one, but trust was sometimes unavoidable, so it became a matter of who to trust. Some could be counted upon to fulfill a deal, even if holding up their end became painful. Others could be counted on only to the extent of their own self-interest… they wouldn't stab you in the back for no reason, but if they had a reason, you were in trouble. Some Undernetters couldn't even be trusted that far. They seemed to make a sport of treachery, even when they might have done better without it. And then there were fools and the deranged. Fools came in many stripes, ranging from naïve normal Navis who had sought out the Undernet, to those who were twisted or stupid. Fools and the insane both had short lifespans, but of the two, the deranged lasted longer. Even in the Undernet, allowances were made for insanity. Foolishness was seldom forgiven.

It was also critical to know the quirks and abilities of the ones you were dealing with. For example, some Maligoenia chip dealers sometimes traded worthless, damaged chip data to fools who didn't know what they were buying. But not one would have shown such data to Kiwi, a generally sweet and even tempered female Navi… except where her chips were concerned. And she dealt chips in more legitimate areas, so she knew useless data when she saw it, and it was the one thing that could send her into a rage so violent even Forte and Dream were impressed. Dream suspected she had a hatred of being cheated that was similar to Forte's hatred of humans… it stemmed from something in the past.

Dream suddenly shook her head, pulling herself out of her musings. Thinking about Maligoenia was nice, but she wasn't there, and she should really pay attention to her current surroundings.

Some Navis shot her uneasy glances as she floated down the street. No doubt they had heard something of Forte, but couldn't bring themselves to believe the feared Super Navi could be so short. Or be walking around Internet City in plain sight.

A sweet sound attracted her attention, and she drifted towards a balcony. Several Navis were clustered there, watching something on the lower level, but they willingly made room for her. Dream noted that absently… it was an interesting difference from the Undernet. Undernetters would have made room for her too, but it would be because they feared her. These Navis just did it to be nice.

Dream blinked at the program, standing on a stage and singing. She wasn't a Net Navi… she wasn't anything Dream had ever seen before. The Undernet held a wide variety of programs, but this one seemed oddly fragile, almost like a hothouse flower. Dream doubted the female program could survive in a normal Net environment.

_She's pretty, _Dream thought, tilting her head to one side, _but that outfit is horrible._ Then the music caught her attention, and she stopped thinking, and just listened.

 When the song was over, Dream blinked, coming out of her trance… and a large window appeared in front of all of them. The other Navis with her started to chat as she read it.

_Join the Talent Show! Apply today, last call at 5 PM. The show will be on Friday, come see!_ The advertisement showed the same female program she had just watched, singing. Dream inferred that she would be judging or participating. She pondered the advertisement for a long moment, then noticed the arrows leading away from it, pointing at a booth…

_Well… why not?_ Laughing sweetly, Dream.EXE followed the arrows… this could be very interesting…


End file.
